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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1New Kitchen Countertop Materials For a Unique Kitchenhttp://hometipsforwomen.com/new-kitchen-countertop-materials
http://hometipsforwomen.com/new-kitchen-countertop-materials#respondSat, 06 Jun 2020 04:01:01 +0000http://www.hometips4women.com/?p=27089No kitchen remodel is complete without new countertops. Everyone seems to be in love with granite countertops and they are beautiful but you've got to maintain them. Engineered stone is an alternative to granite and you don't have to seal these kitchen countertop materials (it's done during the manufacturing process), so some people prefer them. ... Read More

]]>No kitchen remodel is complete without new countertops. Everyone seems to be in love with granite countertops and they are beautiful but you've got to maintain them. Engineered stone is an alternative to granite and you don't have to seal these kitchen countertop materials (it's done during the manufacturing process), so some people prefer them.

But you might be wondering what other kitchen countertop materials are there to choose from? If your budget can handle something more expensive, we’ve got some beautiful countertop materials for you to think about.

With this post, we’ll cover high-end countertops that you don’t see every day. Some are quarried while others are manufactured. They all add something extra that you probably won’t see in your neighborhood.

Quartz Countertop Materials for Your New Kitchen

Quart countertops (above) were introduced in the 1990s, growing in popularity ever since. It's actually harder than granite and thus, more durable as it won't chip or crack as easily. That makes it nearly indestructible.

When my house flooded we had to remove the countertops first, and then the base kitchen and bathroom cabinets. The owner of StoneWorld explained that because quartz is manufactured, it doesn't have the seams that run through granite. Thus quartz was more likely to handle removal and re-installation.

An important benefit of quartz countertops is they're easy to keep relatively bacteria free because the material isn't porous like granite. This also means it so it resists staining much better than granite, marble and concrete. Be careful though with cooking pans, because quartz countertops can be damaged by excessive heat. You need to use heating pads at all times.

Soapstone A Great Choice in Countertop Materials

Soapstone is generally gray, sometimes dark and sometimes light. Depending on where it’s quarried, it might also have a bluish cast. Darker soapstone can occur naturally, but more often, it’s been treated with oil. Untreated soapstone is usually soft, pale gray and the oil deepens the color.

Soapstone is a popular material because of it's resistance to stains, chemicals and bacteria.

Unfortunately, soapstone isn’t as hard as some other stones, so it will be easier to damage. Care includes regular oiling, especially for the first year that you own it. Common mineral oil is fine. Don’t use olive because it turns rancid.

Every piece of recycled glass used in countertops is unique …

Eco-Friendly Countertop Materials from Recycled Glass

Recycled glass is absolutely unique, every single time. The reason is the fabrication process. During manufacturer, broken bits of recycled glass are blended with a binder, typically a resin or concrete. Pigments may be added to the binder to tint them, giving color to the background material.

Once it hardens, the surface is polished smooth to a high shine. Some recycled glass looks very much like a terrazzo floor, but you can customize the colors. It’s non-porous, so it doesn’t require a sealer.

Recycled glass care is pretty straightforward — wipe it down with a damp rag and buff dry with a soft cloth. This is a tough material, but it’s not impossible to damage. For example, just as heat can crack a piece of glass, you can damage your countertop if you set down a hot pan.

Copper countertop adds warmth to a kitchen …

Copper Countertop Materials Add Warmth to a Kitchen

Copper comes in so many patinas, or none at all. You can opt for the bright, new-penny shine of a sealed copper countertop, or go for one with a darker, warm patina. Some manufacturers can treat copper with high heat to create vivid surface colors in abstract patterns, and some offer a hammered finish with softly bumpy texture.

Care varies depending on whether the metal is sealed, and whether it’s got a special treatment for color effect. It’s a very soft metal, so it can scratch easily. For this reason, many homeowners opt for copper with a patina. Bright, perfect copper might not look perfect for long.

Remodeling Your Kitchen with Calcatta Marble

Marble is another great choice for countertops. Like granite, different marble comes from places throughout the world.

Calcatta marble is quarried in Carrera, Italy, which helps some people confuse it with Carrera marble. So here’s how to tell the difference: Carrera marble is a more gray-toned stone with less prominent veining. Calcatta marble is usually paler, often bright white, and the gray veins are more distinct.

This is an ideal stone for kitchen countertops if you want a white-on-white look, and it also contrasts beautifully against dark espresso-toned cabinets. Marble is porous so it always needs a sealer to prevent damage. Its heat resistance is one of the best going, though.

Concrete countertops are unique in color & design as seen here …

Concrete Kitchen Countertop Materials

For kitchen countertop layouts with unusual shapes, concrete is a great solution. By using pigments, stains and dyes you can create counters with great color and visual texture. You can also embed stone, tiles or silicone chips to create unusual visual images unlike any other countertop materials. In essence, you get to design your own counter top which means it's unique to your home.

Concrete is scratch and heat resistant, although it requires sealing to prevent staining. Yes it's very heavy which is why it is constructed in place.

Stainless Steel Kitchen Countertops

If you love stainless steel appliances, then it's not hard to imagine using a matching stainless steel countertop. It’s stain and heat resistant, and non-porous which makes it naturally antibacterial and easy to clean.

And remember than stainless is the choice of professional chefs because of these properties. The down side is stainless shows fingerprints and may get dented or scratched over time.

Are you dreaming of a custom kitchen with a countertop that no one else on the block has? One of these might be just what you’re looking for. If you have some ideas of your own, we’d love to hear them!

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/new-kitchen-countertop-materials/feed0How Do You Update Laminate Countertops, From the Ask Tina Serieshttp://hometipsforwomen.com/update-laminate-countertops
http://hometipsforwomen.com/update-laminate-countertops#respondFri, 05 Jun 2020 18:06:39 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49197Dawn asked “Do you handle this type of job? A realtor in southern New Hampshire, she has a Formica countertop that needs updating but doesn't want to spend the money to replace it.” What she didn't explain was the purpose for the update. As she's a realtor, it likely is an update Dawn recommended to ... Read More

]]>Dawn asked “Do you handle this type of job? A realtor in southern New Hampshire, she has a Formica countertop that needs updating but doesn't want to spend the money to replace it.” What she didn't explain was the purpose for the update. As she's a realtor, it likely is an update Dawn recommended to help sell a house. We've replaced many kitchen countertops for homeowners preparing to sell their houses, so we've got experience working with laminate countertops.

Ask Tina Series: Emails Written While Running My Handyman Business

First I explained that my only experience with laminate countertops involved:

Trying to repair lamiate surfaces years after they'd suffered damage that continued to erode. Generally if the medium density fiberboard (MDF) underneath is sound, you can reattach the laminate and/or repair small nicks. We haven't had much success fixing laminate countertops that have water damage to the MDF underneath the laminate.

Replacing the entire countertop for homeowners remodeling their kitchens who decided they needed help to finish faster.

Here's what we did for one homeowner who called my handyman business in panic mode. She had a big party planned at her home the next day. They were remodeling their kitchen and were sure they'd get it done in time but that didn't happen. The new laminate countertops had been ordered and were waiting to be picked up at Home Depot. Then they realized the countertops wouldn't fit in their car … so they were desperate.

Given the short notice, I had to drive an empty van to Home Depot the next day, because my technician's vans are full of tools and materials. My handyman technician met me there to inspect the countertops. It was important that he had have everything needed to complete the installation by 5pm that day, when guests would start arriving. We drove to the customer's house and unloaded the countertops. There were three pieces, including one corner piece already connected (see above) by Home Depot. It was challenging working around food preparation for the party … but we got the job done just in time!

Kitchen islands are perfect for parties at home …

3 Options for Updating Laminate Countertops

I've always liked giving homeowners options and letting them decide which one is best for their situation. Here’s my initial feedback that I sent back to Dawn in an email:

Re-laminate -- Assuming your existing countertop surfaces are in good shape, we could install new laminate to the top and sides of your countertops. It is however, a labor intensive process requiring special tool bits. It's expensive though because of the time it takes to do the job right. You can review the steps involved in this article, How to Re-Laminate Your Countertops.

Replace the laminate countertops -- If you can find a stock laminate countertop color/pattern that you like, this might be cheaper than you think. If you have a corner, with measurements, Home Depot will cut and attach the pieces so they're “factory joined”.

Shortly after this initial dialog, I learned about a new paint developed for laminate countertops. So I sent Dawn an email explaining:

Paint laminate countertops -- There are some new paints made to cover laminate countertops. The video below shows the steps you need to follow and they're very similar to any painting project. While Modern Masters only offered 5 colors (charcoal, canyon brown, desert sand, pebbled ivory and quarry stone) when I wrote this email, you shouldn't have any trouble finding something you love today (see choices at HomeDepot.com).

Handyman Customer Service

Dawn, I hope I've given you enough choices to make a decision about how to update your laminate countertops. Let me know what you’d like to do, and if there are any unusual situations. If you want to move forward, here are the things we ask customers:

Can you send us a few digital photos of the kitchen and close-ups of the countertops? If there are problems, please try to capture those in photos too.

Can you take measurements of each countertop piece? This will help with estimating how many square feet need to be painted or replaced. Here's a video that shows how to measure your laminate countertops. If all your countertops are straight and not too long, you can sometimes find discounted tops at bargain prices.

How Much Do Laminate Countertops Cost

When laminate countertops came out in the 19402, they were the modern day substitute for wood, tile and stone countertops. They fell out of favor as being cheap and tacky as granite and other stone-like materials came to market at affordable prices. Today's laminates (Formica and Wilsonart are laminate brands) have improved considerably and remain popular for homeowners on a budget.

While laminates can cost less than other countertop materials, today there are laminate countertops that are more expensive than budget granite (read: Comparing Economical Countertop Materials for a Kitchen Remodel). So it's more important to look at where the costs come from and these apply to all countertop materials.

Material costs -- Some materials like laminates are priced by the linear foot. Other materials like quartz are priced by the square foot. Just make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

Extra material costs -- You'll focus on the countertop surface but you also need to consider if you want a four inch backsplash. Another cost factor is edging which by itself can get really pricey. Corners are another cost factor when buying countertop materials … but you can't avoid them so make sure they're in your calculations.

Labor to remove old countertops -- This is one area where homeowners can save by doing this themselves but don't forget to research how you're going to dispose of the old countertops. Have you got access to a truck so you take them to your town dump?

Labor cost to install new countertops -- If your walls are relatively straight and the floors are pretty level, this work shouldn't cost that much. Using a labor cost of $30 to $30/hr, with 8 hours to install 30 linear feet (one corner, plus 3 other pieces) would cost around $300.

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/update-laminate-countertops/feed0What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?http://hometipsforwomen.com/what-is-gross-living-area-gla
http://hometipsforwomen.com/what-is-gross-living-area-gla#respondWed, 03 Jun 2020 21:26:17 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49187When you made an offer on your house, the square footage was listed on various real estate websites. When the appraisal came back, the square footage was lower and you're not sure why. Did someone made a mistake or copy the number incorrectly? So it's now time to learn what's included in the gross living ... Read More

]]>When you made an offer on your house, the square footage was listed on various real estate websites. When the appraisal came back, the square footage was lower and you're not sure why. Did someone made a mistake or copy the number incorrectly? So it's now time to learn what's included in the gross living area of a house and how to calculate the number.

Measuring the size of your home can be confusing. You look at the individual rooms and probably measure some of them to see how your furniture will fit. The official measurements of your house are done from the exterior. This means they include the walls even though you don't think of them as living space.

Where You Can Find Your Home's Square Footage

Wondering where you can find the most reliable measurements for your home?

Property tax records (left below) -- will have your home's size, both the house and land. For my home in Florida, the “base living area” is 2,273 sq ft and the unfinished areas (garage and porch) added for a “total under roof” of 3,283 sq ft.

Property survey (center below) -- also has house measurements similar to the property tax records but don't include square footage. The focus of the survey is to make sure the house satisfies proper distancing from the property lines.

Appraisal (right below) -- includes a drawing of your home's layout along with calculations for your gross living area and non-living areas like the garage. Thought it was interesting that my appraiser missed the covered walkway leading up to the house … but not surprised as it truly was a bad appraisal.

Now you can see that the numbers might be close but the measurements are never exact, oh well. This is one problem we're never going to fix but satellite measurements in the future … maybe?

What is Gross Living Area Square Footage?

The definition of the gross living area (GLA) is interior space that is heated and cooled. GLA also requires the space to be above ground level for natural light and connected to the main body of the house by other finished areas like stairs and the hallway.

Reviewing industry standards for calculating gross living area, here are the most interesting and confusing areas in a home. If you're building a house, you should think through your choices as areas included in GLA will make your home more valuable when it's time to sell. If you want to research further, you can download ANSI Z765-2013, Square Footage-Method for Calculating.

From your home's entryway to the back door, all the connected living spaces (heated and cooled) above ground level are included.

Porches and patios are excluded if they're are not enclosed and usable year round. With my handyman business there was one house in Exeter, NH. Every year we would winterize a porch. We replaced window screens with plexiglass windows. We also put down carpeting with a thick pad. The family loved it … but not sure an appraiser would include in GLA.

Second and third floorsare included where there's a floor and ceilings that are at least seven feet tall. This then excludes openings over entryways and stairs.

Attic areasare counted when at least half the finished area is at least seven ft high. Some of this space may be excluded when sloped ceilings fall below five feet.

Basements are typically excluded because they are below grade. This can be annoying when one side of the basement is at ground level. You're not alone here as my house in Arizona (shown here) had one appraiser who excluded the basement while another appraisal include the finished basement floor.

Garage apartments are typically not included as you enter them through an unfinished garage. Consider your design because I've seen garage apartments with an exterior door rather than the garage. Another design I recall provided access to the garage apartment across a second floor patio connecting the house to the apartment. This however wouldn't meet the heated/cooled area requirement.

What is Gross Living Area in an Appraisal?

While we as homeowners pay for appraisals, the real customer is the secondary market. That's because the majority of mortgages are bundled and sold to primarily FannieMae and FreddieMac. So it's no surprise that appraisers need to follow FannieMae and FreddieMac's Field-Specific Standardization Requirements (Appendix D) when doing their appraisals.

The appraisal following Fannie and Freddie requirements, emphasizes consistency for the purpose of estimating value. Then it looks to ANSI standards that focus on walking space. If you're curious, you can download this 43 page document,

Here are examples of how these two standards vary, often because an appraiser can't see inside the comps.

Open areas -- Fannie and Freddie guidelines include open areas, like a cathedral ceiling over the living room, in their GLA.

Below grade areas -- can be included if the appraiser can define consistent comparables with below grade and above grade areas, and they give reasonable cause.

Finished attics with sloped ceilings -- are given the benefit of the doubt by Fannie and Freddie because the appraiser can't see into the comps to measure the finished space.

Finished areas adjacent to unfinished areas -- is another area that's challenging for appraisers. Buyers might delay finishing a bonus room over the garage until years after their initial purchase.

So how do appraisers make adjustments to comps to simulate an apples-to-apple comparison?

This is a question I researched for more than an hour without finding a clear answer. These are two articles that were provided good information but not enough for me to feel comfortable summarizing it here.

How Do You Calculate GLA?

Now that you understand what areas are included in your home's gross living area, you're ready to calculate this number for yourself. Alternatively you can find one of the documents listed above that gives you GLA. Here are

Measure the exterior dimensions of your home using a tape measure. Alternatively you can purchase a measuring wheel like the ones used by appraisers. This can get tricky with lots of landscaping around your house. Take that as a signal that it's time to trim those shrubs because your house needs to breathe (here's a video, How to Trim Bushes & Trees Near Your House).

Note: There are some nice collapsible measuring wheels that would be easy to store. At the same time, I want to be smart and only buy things I'll use at least 6/more times a year, like my new waffle iron or soon to be purchased toaster oven (no toaster though).

Now measure any areas that aren't heated or cooled, like a patio at the back of your house. Subtract these areas from your home's GLA.

A second floor may need additional measurements as they seldom extend the full width and depth of the first floor. You'll have to do a bit more estimating here as you can't take these measurements from the ground. Remember when you take measurements inside, you have to add six to eight inches to include the exterior walls.

For finished attics, you probably have to measure inside the house. Remember to add the depth of the walls but exclude areas where the ceiling is less than five feet.

Add up the measurements for the first and second floors, plus a finished attic. Notice I've omitted any basement measurement here because they're rarely built above grade.

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/what-is-gross-living-area-gla/feed0Bad Appraisal or Bad Appraiser?http://hometipsforwomen.com/bad-appraisal-bad-appraiser
http://hometipsforwomen.com/bad-appraisal-bad-appraiser#respondSun, 31 May 2020 21:07:48 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49167While I've seen some ridiculous appraisals, the rules are pretty straight forward so the results are fairly predictable. After purchasing 15 homes plus multiple refinances, it was time to refinance my new home in Florida. What I didn't expect was a bad appraisal. After my rebuttal (my first) accomplished nothing, I knew it was really ... Read More

]]>While I've seen some ridiculous appraisals, the rules are pretty straight forward so the results are fairly predictable. After purchasing 15 homes plus multiple refinances, it was time to refinance my new home in Florida. What I didn't expect was a bad appraisal. After my rebuttal (my first) accomplished nothing, I knew it was really due to a bad appraiser.

Why did I feel the appraisal was bad? One story houses aren't that common across the country. But in Florida and other retirement states, one story houses are valued because seniors have difficulty with stairs. In my Florida retirement community, 36% (49 out of 136 houses) of the houses are one-story. That means it should have been easy for the appraiser to find enough one-story houses to compare my one-story house to …

But no, the appraiser used two one-story houses and the third comparison was a 2-story house. That was the mistake made as one-story houses are more expensive to build and that should be reflected in the price of the house … if and where, one-story houses are desirable. That made this a bad appraisal!

There's a process & rules for how an appraisal is done …

Key Appraisal Rules Determine a Good or Bad Appraisal

Most homeowners know little about the appraisal process. You know the appraiser comes to your house and takes lots of photos and measurements. The real work occurs after they leave, as all of the home data they need is easily accessible online.

Fortunately I've taken the courses required to become an appraiser (books shown above). An appraisal is an estimate of a home's value based on similar houses in close proximity to your home, ones that have sold recently. Beginning with the sale price for each “comparable house”, appraisers make dollar adjustments for differences in square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, outbuildings and pools plus the quality and condition of the finishes.

Of course I was disappointed that my issue requiring one-story comps for a one-story appraisal isn't in this list. In my mind though, it's still a valid requirement which meant I got a bad appraisal.

Size – 20% square feet smaller/bigger than the subject property unless no other comps are available.

Distance – within one mile of the subject property. The comp should also not be separated by any major barriers like a freeway, a river or railroad tracks.

City/Town – same as the subject property, even if a comp in another city is less than a block from the subject property. That's important for schools and other public services.

Date Closed – ideally should be within 90 days (180 days if needed) of the inspection. Pending sales and listings only show what the current market is doing and cannot be used as comps.

Large lot means more space & privacy from neighbors not on top of you …

Lot Size – should be viewed from a usable perspective, not just size. For example, a one acre sloped lot may not have more value than a quarter acre flat lot. My building lot is double the size of other homes in the area. I paid a premium for the last lot (1/4 of a pie) with views of the wetlands, room for a 3 car garage and separation from my neighbors.

View – should be reflected with comps that have a similar view and some with no view. Comps with a view should not be used when the subject property doesn't have a view.

Adverse Influences – like a busy school, freeway or industrial area should be reflected with a comp that has similar influences, to determine if an adjustment is needed for the adverse influence.

Bracketing Comps – means at least one comp should be priced higher and one lower than the subject property. There should also be at least one comp larger and smaller to bracket the house being appraised.

One story-houses are very popular in senior communities in Florida & other southern states …

Most of these criteria were satisfied with my appraisal. My objection was primarily due to my house (above) being one-story being compared to a two-story house (below). You can also see that the neighborhoods look quite different with generous front yards across the street from my house versus driveways and very little grass so the curb appeal looked nothing like my community.

Florida is full of retirement communities and one-story houses are very popular. One-story homes also cost more to build, which is reflected in higher prices which is why I decided to dispute the bad appraisal.

What Can You Do If You Get a Bad Appraisal?

After 20 plus mortgages and refinance transactions, this was the first appraisal I disagreed with. My first idea was to survey one-story houses in my area plus two close by with similar houses (this didn't include the 2-story house above). Putting all the data into a spreadsheet, there were

My community has 49 one-story houses (36%) out of 136 houses.

A neighboring community with the same floor plan has 20 one-story houses (48%) out of 61 homes.

A third community about a mile away, has 32 one-story homes (24%) in a community of 168 houses.

With 101 one-story houses you might assume there would be enough comps. There weren't. Only two of these one-story houses closed within 6 months of the date of the inspection. Two more houses closed just one and two weeks beyond the sixth month window … but the appraiser wouldn't accept them in the rebuttal.

Here are your options if you feel you have a bad appraisal and need/want a higher estimate:

Dispute the appraisal – which requires the appraiser to address your issues.

Get a second appraisal – but understand it will delay the closing, cost you a second appraisal fee and might come in lower. And the lender will take the lower value so you might be worse off.

Increase the down payment – to meet the lenders requirements and/or avoid PMI. For my situation, the lower appraisal simply meant I couldn't roll closing costs into the mortgage. That of course was after my rebuttal failed.

Negotiate a lower purchase price – if you're the buyer and have no other way to handle a low appraisal, try negotiating with the seller to accept a lower price or pay some of the closing costs.

If you think you have a bad appraisal, there's a process for reconsideration …

Appraisal Rebuttal Letter: Don't Compare 1 and 2-Story Houses

Here's the letter I sent to dispute my bad appraisal. My loan originator sent the letter to their in-house appraisal department, with a cover letter indicating the amount he thought the appraisal should be. The communication was forwarded to the appraiser for reconsideration.

Letter Disputing Bad Appraisal

There are 2 issues with the appraisal. First is confusion as there's little/no recognition for upgrades made to the house. The second issue is using a 2-story comp for a 1-story house … is just wrong. It's well known that the cost to build 2-story house is quite a bit lower than 1-story, so you can't compare them.

Lot size – my lot is 12,175 sq ft, more than twice the size of other lots 5,759 sq ft but given no credit?

Gross living area (GLA) – the same floor plan has different square feet? Only difference found was my 3-car garage is 2 ft deeper than 2 car garages (44 sq ft less).

One-story homes also cost more to build – 2-story comp in a community that looks nothing like mine (photos above). Tall, skinny railroad car homes with no land (3311 sf). They also don't have a community clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, etc. This is NOT a valid comp.

So I provided comps that more closely match my house. The data came from searching Zillow. My point here is the raw data (without appraisal adjustments for square footage, 3rd car garage, view and lot size), shows my property isn't being credited with improvements that exceed the model home.

Note: Below is my analysis of the numbers to prove this was a bad appraisal. It's now expanded to reflect my proposed comps and the “for sale” houses identified by the appraiser in his arrogant, lazy response.

A one-story house costs more to build, and typically sells for a higher price …

Appraiser Incompetent, Arrogant or Just Lazy?

My loan officer said it typically takes three to five business days for a response.When the response came back one day later, I knew it wasn't good. That's when I realized the appraiser was arrogant and … lazy!

First I'll share some of the comments made by other appraisers online. My goal was to understand what the industry norms were from the experts, as I'm just a very experiencedhomeowner.

Ryan Bays, Certified Appraiser – “When appraising a home, we try – as much as possible – to compare apples to apples. If I'm appraising a single-story home, all of my comps would be single-story homes.”

Ryan Lundquist, Appraiser – “… tends to compare single-story with single-story and two-story with two-story because there is sometimes (not always) a difference in value. Unfortunately there is no universal value adjustment given for a variance in stories because it really depends on the neighborhood as well as supply and demand.”

“… if you go further back in time (perhaps a few years, as far back as necessary), are there any sales of 1-story houses?”

“Typically a 1-story with same GLA and equal quality/condition, etc will have superior demand. The costs are higher … to not adjust, you better have real strong proof that for some odd reason, there is no preference.”

“… sounds like a location adjustment is more sketchy than a time adjustment. Find the most recent single story sales and use them (explain in report) … or take last 3 years worth of sales, index the prices and do an analysis for the floor count.”

So what did the appraiser do/say in response to my issues with a bad appraisal? It will help explain why I feel that he's arrogant!

Outside 6 month window – was the reason for not using my recommended comps but … they were only outside 2 and 11 days (see chart below), as the inspection occurred on 4/22/20? Instead the appraiser added two comps (one another 2-story house) that are pending/active listings, adjusted based on a market average 98% sale to list price ratio.

Oversized lot – appraiser said “The subject market does not recognize added value for surplus land. Additionally the surplus land of the subject is limited to the front and side yards of the subject. The value is diminished because this land requires maintenance but does not have the same ability to be improved as the rear yard, such as a pool improvement.”

There is no added cost for maintaining the side yards because all landscaping included in HOA fees.

Appraiser doesn't look at property lines. He doesn't know a pool is possible in the backyard but why when the community pool is a 3-minute walk from the house. While Floridians aren't familiar with real side yards, they are valued by people from the northeast and other parts of the US.

But really, the issue is this appraiser didn't want to look farther to find valid one-story comps … lazy? Using all the comps identified for this appraisal, it appears that there is a 5% premium for single story houses which makes sense given higher construction costs. The fact that my house had an appraised value of only $327,000 versus the model home (minus 3rd car garage and view) value of $348,700 is ridiculous!

Now that I've written this article, I wonder if I should have gotten a second appraisal? What do you think I should have done? Leave your ideas below …

PS If you're new to the home buying/building process, here are some other articles you might find useful:

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/bad-appraisal-bad-appraiser/feed0Should I Build a One-Story Househttp://hometipsforwomen.com/build-one-story-house
http://hometipsforwomen.com/build-one-story-house#respondSat, 30 May 2020 13:40:39 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49170When you look at house plans, what are your top three priorities? Your choices may be based on the house you grew up in or the neighborhood where you'd like to live. With young children space might be more important. Older homeowners often want a one-story house so they don't have to worry about stairs. ... Read More

]]>When you look at house plans, what are your top three priorities? Your choices may be based on the house you grew up in or the neighborhood where you'd like to live. With young children space might be more important. Older homeowners often want a one-story house so they don't have to worry about stairs. That's why you'll find many more single-story houses in states with a large number of retirees.

If you're considering a one-story house, here are the key decision factors to consider:

Why Are One-Story Homes More Expensive than Two-Story Houses?

If you're used to comparing houses based on square feet, you might not realize that one-story houses are almost always more expensive. There are two simple reasons for this. It's more expensive to build a one-story house and the building lot for a one-story house is typically larger, adding more cost.

1-story house sitting side-by-side with a 2-story house …

What are the added building costs for a one-story house?

First let's compare the footprint of one and two-story houses with 2,400 square feet. We'll leave the garage and potential basement out to make things easier. The one-story house will need a foundation and slab for 2,400 sq ft. The two-story house only needs a foundation for half that size, or 1,200 sq ft.

Wondering how the stairs affect this? Stairs and hallways are included as living space in the square feet measurement. It's something you need to consider as you look through house plans. Why? If there's too much space devoted to hallways, you might get one less bedroom. When moving from a four bedroom, 2,250 sq ft house in San Jose, CA, I assumed a 2,400 sq ft house in Portsmouth, NH would have four bedrooms. After walking one house twice searching for the fourth bedroom, I asked where it was. They said the house only had three bedrooms. It took a few minutes to figure out the missing bedroom was replaced by too many long hallways.

Higher plumbing, electrical and heating/cooling costs to extend throughout the house.

When do building lot costs increase the price of a one-story house?

If you buy your own land, you know a half acre costs less than an acre. However most people building a house pick a development, and within that community one of the builders who owns lots. This typically means the roads and utilities are already there to support building on the lot you picked. The big cost variables are the size of the building lot, the view you'll have from the house and the community/location.

Some communities have a minimum lot size like a quarter acre. In this situation, a one-story house will have less outdoor living space because it covers more land than a two-story home. Some builders will only put single story houses on larger lots to insure they have similar curb appeal within the community. In this case, a larger lot will cost more, adding to the overall cost of a one-story house.

Building lots vary in size & views …

Will a One-Story House Command a Higher Price When Selling?

There's no guarantee that a one-story home will sell for a higher price than a two-story house with the same square footage and finishes. Like all real estate transactions, it's a matter of supply and demand. If more buyers want single-story homes and the supply is limited, these houses will sell at a premium. This is often the case in retirement communities where a large percentage of buyers want, even need, a house with no stairs.

Sue Galster, Realtor/Broker, “A one-story house appeals to a wider range of current home owners and future buyers. Rarely do I meet a buyer who says they need/prefer a two-story house and it’s quite common to hear that a one-story is non-negotiable … more Baby Boomer home owners will require a one-story house for health and safety reasons so that stairs aren’t an issue in their lives.”

Steve Ostrom, Realtor/Broker, “Over 30% of my clients say they must have a one-story. Another 40% say they prefer a single story. That is around 70% targeting single story. The number one reason they state is they are getting older and worry about having to climb stairs later in life.”

Craig Dunnigan, Realtor/Broker, “Single story homes sell for more money than a two-story of equal size based on sales trends for over 35 years. Agents in our office feel single story homes are in higher demand and sell for more than most two-story homes. The aging “baby boomers” don’t want to be walking up and down stairs.”

A one-story house is likely to sell faster than two-story houses …

Advantages of a One-Story House

You now know the most common reason driving one-story home demand is the lack of stairs. If you're wondering what the other advantages are, here's a short list and if you've discovered one that's missing, please share it in the comment section below.

Safer without stairs which help small children, those with mobility challenges and seniors. They're also easier to evacuate if there's a fire.

Retirement friendly (hmm, we never want to admit we're getting older) so if you need to use a walker or wheelchair, there won't be any problems although doors might need to be widened.

Quieter living as there aren't any overhead footsteps.

More living space (80 to 160 sq ft) because you're not wasting footage on a staircase.

Opportunites for saving space with fewer bathrooms and a combination laundry/mud room.

More design options with varied ceiling heights and skylights.

Easier maintenance because everything is on the same level according to Realtor.com. Examples cited were no need to carry laundry up/down stairs and the same for a vacuum cleaner (I solved this with two of them).

One-story house can have angled ceilings in every room …

Disadvantages of a One-Story Home

Higher construction costs than a two-story home due to the larger footprint.

Often less outdoor space when one and two-story houses are built on the same size lot.

Less privacy with single-story living in neighborhoods where those passing by can see into your house. With kids you'll also give up the separation that comes from upstairs bedrooms.

Higher energy costs due to more surface areas (wall and roof) to lose/gain heat.

When building or buying a new home, making the decision to invest in a one-story house is important. We wish you the best of luck, plus a few more tips you might find useful:

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/build-one-story-house/feed0Mortgage Closing Paperwork Can Be Overwhelminghttp://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-closing-paperwork
http://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-closing-paperwork#respondMon, 25 May 2020 00:13:32 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49152Today I'm wrapping up refinancing for my Florida house. I've done lots of closings in person, a few mail closings and today is my first online closing. You can laugh but I'm actually excited. As I review and sign-off on each document, it's the perfect time to document the title and purpose. This will help ... Read More

]]>Today I'm wrapping up refinancing for my Florida house. I've done lots of closings in person, a few mail closings and today is my first online closing. You can laugh but I'm actually excited. As I review and sign-off on each document, it's the perfect time to document the title and purpose. This will help prepare you for your closing. It's important because the mortgage closing paperwork can be 100 pages or more. Most home buyers never read anything except the numbers … but I do, and so should you!

Lots of the paperwork is administrative gobbledygook, really. It feels like every time there's a legal issue, they add another piece of paper to the package. The craziest one I can recall is when we sold a Florida condo purchased for my husband's parents. We had to sign a page stating we had remained married for the life of the mortgage, really.

The worst example of mortgage industry bullying occurred with our first house. The bank wanted me to sign a paper that said “My name is Tina “husband's last name”, as I am married to my husband. I refused, as no bank was going to tell me what my name was, never! The woman at the title company spent a half hour on the phone negotiating with the bank. They finally allowed her to XXXXX over the statement about a fictitious name. The document I signed said “… I, “my name” am married to “husband's name.”

Here's a summary of my mortgage closing paperwork, so you can click over to the information you need:

Mortgage Closing Logistics & Financial Summary

It makes sense that the mortgage closing paperwork start with directions and the thing most home buyers want to know … the numbers!

Notary Signing Instructions (1 pg) – meant primarily for the notary (she's coming at 1pm), it explains special rules for closings that involve a trust, power of attorney (my husband and I started taking turns covering closings) and non-borrowing (spouse not on mortgage) persons.

Key Points for a Faster and Smoother eClosing Experience (1 pg) – explains that the closing includes both eSign documents plus documents “that are legally required to be physically (ink) signed. For example, the promissory note and your mortgage or Deed of Trust.

Closing Disclosure (5 pgs and eSign)- the numbers! Hopefully you've already reviewed these pages which contain all the financial information about your loan. By law you should have received the final numbers at least 3 days before the closing. That's when you want to study them and make sure you agree with the numbers.

Focus on the second page, the “Closing Cost Details”. These can be confusing until you figure out that the total for each section is on top versus below the figures being totaled. For this closing (after 20+ personal closings), I had two surprises so you ought to expect them.

Lower refi amount (lazy appraiser story coming) – was reflected with lower government fees which are based on the mortgage amount.

Higher payout to old servicer – which I questioned several days ago. This is the first time I've seen a payout document, asking for another 20 days of interest past the closing date. The short answer is most of this money will be refunded after closing. The longer answer is explained in detail in this article, Signing Your Mortgage Does Not Close the Loan.

Mortgage “Note” to Secure Your Loan

In addition to confirming you understand and agree with the financial figures, the two most important documents in the mortgage closing paperwork package are the promissory note and the mortgage. This made me wonder why there were two separate documents.

Promissorynote – has the financial details for the loan's repayment, like interest rate and method of payment. The note is not recorded in the county records. The lender holds the promissory note while the loan is outstanding, returning it to the borrower when the loan is paid in full.

Mortgage – documents the procedures that will be followed if the borrower fails to repay the loan on the required schedule. Mortgages are recorded in the county land records, along with transfer taxes and recording fees.

Note (3 pgs, ink signature) – is your borrower promise to pay. It covers interest rate, time and place of payments, borrower's right to repay (there was a prepayment penalty when I bought my first house), actions on failure to make payments, several administrative topics related to non-payment and “documentary tax” seal to be added when this note is filed and state taxes paid.

While my closing is with NBKC Bank, the important sentence in the note is “I understand the Lender may transfer this Note”. I already my mortgage will be bundled and sold within one week, just like the original mortgage last year. What's annoying is you have to wait for more information about the loan servicer, in order to set up automatic mortgage payments.

Buried among 40+ docs, will be your mortgage agreement …

Mortgage Closing Paperwork – The Mortgage!

Mortgage (15 pgs) – prepared by the lender but all they're doing is filling in the blanks, really.

Remember how I mentioned above that my loan will be sold off within a week. The primary purchasers of conforming home loans are two United States government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The main difference between the two is Fannie mostly buys mortgages from commercial banks like Bank of America. Freddie Mac typically buys loans from smaller banks, often called thrift banks (learn more about the 9 types of financial institutions).. I recently wrote an article on forbearance (click for links to see who holds your mortgage) and discovered my current loan is held by Freddie Mac.

Why should you care? Just look at the bottom of your mortgage document. My footer reads “FLORIDA – Single Family – Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac UNIFORM INSTRUMENT – MERS”. This means your lender merely filled in the blanks. You should still scan the document to make sure you're aware of all the potential problems you might run into over the life of your mortgage. It's really hard to learn what's important in the middle of a crisis like the current Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately your congressional representatives took care of homeowners with the CARES Act.

Your mortgage closing paperwork will use lots of words you might not understand …

Mortgage Closing Paperwork – Definitions

If you're just scanning the stack of mortgage paperwork in front of you, you might skip this section. The idea is to familiarize you with words that will appear in your mortgage. The definitions are always adequate so grab your handy dictionary if you truly want to build up your vocabulary (lesson learned doing homeschooling – Google misses a lot in their short phrase definitions). I also like my Nolo's book, Buying Your First Home. But guess what, with an 18 page index, it didn't have security instrument (see below).

Mortgage Definitions (2 pgs) … to be continued as a separate article, because it's hard to review mortgage closing paperwork if you don't understand the words you're reading.

Security instrument – laughing now as all it says is “this document dated ___, together with all Riders to this document.” With some digging, I learned that a security instrument is a legal document giving a lender a security interest in the property. Typically it's a mortgage that gives the lender a lien on the property.

Borrower – is Tina Gleisner, a single woman. Yes, recently divorced I am amused/annoyed at how we have to be labeled beyond our name. For many years I also had to argue that my name appear first as I always managed family finances, did the paperwork and my husband simply signed as needed.

MERS – is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. We the borrowers, get to pay $11.95, so the industry can keep track of our mortgage as the lender sells the loan and serving rights to other companies. Seems like it should be their expense, not ours?

Lender – is a Kansas bank … for about a week, LOL!

Note – is the promissory note as previously documented.

Lots of mortgage rules are buried in all the mortgage closing docs …

Mortgage Rules You Might Miss

In your mortgage closing paperwork (40+ documents) is the mortgage, the most important document. It's long and difficult to understand unless you're a mortgage broker or real estate attorney. Here are the most interesting items that homeowners should be aware of. Most I already knew but there were a few new ones because of new experiences I've had, like a flooded house.

Transfer of rights in the property – was interesting because this refinancing is being done to capture the improvements recently made to the house. From the mortgage document, the mortgage covers the property with “… all the improvements now or hereafter erected on the property, and all easements, appurtenances, and fixtures now or hereafter a part of the property.” Granted it's not easy to take your kitchen cabinets with you but I often taken light fixtures to my next house, replacing them with inexpensive fixtures before listing the house.

Uniform covenants – deal with handling of bounced checks, sequence in which payments are applied and that's important. If you ignore a late charge, there will likely be repercussions you don't understand or like. Escrow used to be optional. Now it's almost mandatory with absurd requirements like sending in documentation proving you paid your property taxes, if you don't escrow taxes and insurance.

Charges – refer to liens on the property and your responsibility to remove them. The most common are mechanics liens if you have work done at your home and fail to pay the contractors.

Property insurance – is where my problem started regarding flood insurance. The lender has the right to require insurance it deems necessary to protect it's asset (your home).

They claimed I needed flood insurance a few months after closing. The FEMA process I had to follow to get documentation to rebut their claim can take up to three months (read: Flood Insurance Nightmare).

More interesting/frustrating is when you have an insurance claim like mine, they add more hurdles to getting your house back to pre-loss condition. One lender said they had to pay all bills but I had to gather/send them all the documentation … really. The second loan servicer distributed the insurance disbursements – it was crazy.

There was a bit of irony having to fight Nationstar about flood insurance while dealing with a flooded house (see below when mold remediation team was working their magic). The important lesson is nobody, not the lender, loan servicer or insurance company is going to help you resolve your problems. You have to learn how to document the facts, research your legal rights and fight for the best solution. It's easier with the Internet but it's still a lot of work … so start learning now!

Occupancy – is important to understand. If you said the house is your primary residence, you must occupy within 60 days and live in the house “… for at least one year after the date of occupancy, unless Lender otherwise agrees in writing.” I'm laughing now as here's what my house looked like six months after I moved in last year.

What a flooded house looks like during mold remediation …

Preservation, maintenance and protection of the property – seems logical but some homeowners do little/no home maintenance. Owning a handyman business, I've had to explain to numerous homeowners why the insurance company may inspect their home before renewing a policy. So this time, I'm now reading that your lender/loan servicer has the same right.

Borrower's loan application – must be truthful or you could be found in default and lose your house.

Protection of lender's interest in the property and rights, under this security instrument – addresses lots of scary things like bankruptcy, probate, condemnation … things we hope you never experience. The significance here is any expenses the lender pays to protect this asset will become additional debt.

Mortgage insurance – is paid by homeowners unable to make a down payment of 20%. The insurance is meant to cover losses if the borrower doesn't repay their loan. Last year I purposely put down 10% knowing that within 60 to 90 days, I would be investing another 15 to 20 percent in the house. My original plan was to get a new appraisal documenting the added value to prove 20 or 22% equity (learn more about private mortgage insurance or PMI).

Assignment of miscellaneous proceeds: forfeitures – deals with property that is abandoned or damaged to a point where it cannot be restored with available funds. This language is for a lawyer who at this point, would be helping you deal with your insurance company.

Borrower not released; forbearance by lender not a waiver – explains that a delay in payments known as forbearance, does not release the borrower from all the conditions of this mortgage.

Joint and several liability; co-signers; successors and assigns bound – Basically it says if there are co-borrowers, if one defaults the other borrower(s) are responsible for all conditions of the mortgage. I'm sure there's more here but I'd need help from a lawyer to explain more.

Loan charges – gives the lender/loan servicer the right to “charge borrower fees for services performed in connection with borrower's default”.

Notices – documents that either party must communicate in writing/snail mail. Important if you're using a different mailing address from your home, “The notice address shall be the property address unless borrower has designated a substitute notice address.” This was an issue when my house flooded and the insurance company wasn't mailed things to my post office box as requested.

Borrower's copy – says you'll be given one copy of the note and this security instrument/mortgage.

Make sure you get digital copies of all important documents. It wasn't fun dealing with a flooded house and four boxes of paperwork that got saturated. They're still in the freezer (below) waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.

Make sure your mortgage closing paperwork is stored digitally …

Transfer of the property or a beneficial interest in borrower – explains you have to get lender's written consent to transfer ownership.

Borrower's right to reinstate after acceleration – … sorry but I'm not clear what the purpose of this section is.

Sale of note; change of loan servicer; notice of grievance – this lays out in print how crazy the mortgage business has become:

Note can be sold one or more times without prior notice to borrower.

When note sold, the loan service who collects periodic payments can change.

The loan servicer can change one/more times unrelated to a sale of the underlying note.

These things really happen. Last year my loan was sold within one week. Whether my first loan servicer, Cenlar, came with the sale is unclear but it happened within a few weeks. Six months later, Cenlar passed loan servicing off to Nationstar. Three changes in less than nine months!

For years until the housing crash, all my mortgages were with GMAC because they didn't sell the loan or transfer loan servicing. After the last year, I negotiated with NBKC to keep my loan servicing. Your next best alternatives are credit unions PenFed and NavyFed, or a strong local bank which in NH, would be Federal Savings Bank.

Hazardous substances – should be obvious, that borrowers can not allow the presence, use, disposal or storage of hazardous substances on their property.

Release – commits lender to releasing this security instrument. It also says they can charge a fee for this, ridiculous! Please be aware that it's not unusual for lenders to drop the ball on this critical step in the mortgage process. Make sure you get a copy of the release within 30 days or start calling. Chasing down a bank several years after the fact, when names and ownership have changed is a nightmare.

Attorney's fees – isn't clear because I've never gone through bankruptcy and hopefully, you won't either.

Jury trial waiver – is your agreement to waive the right to a jury trial. Now I'm wondering about small claims court to recover what Nationstar took out of my escrow account?

Ink signature on this document!

Mortgage Closing Paperwork – Lots of Little Details

Planned Unit Development (PUD) Rider (3 pgs, ink signature) – covers your obligations to a homeowner association, and their commitments to common areas and facilities of the owner's association. Most important, it documents your commitment to pay owner assessments which for some reason, aren't held in escrow.

Borrower's Certification and Authorization (1 pg, eSign) – ugh, this one bother's me a lot because it's another hard inquiry against my credit report. You're basically authorizing the lender (hopefully not the loan servicer) to review all the information provided in your loan application. There is a time limit here of three months as I earlier refused to sign a similar document that had no time limit.

Mailing Address Certification (1 pg, ink signature) – which is good as I use a PO Box due to frequent traveling for business.

Lenders want to see your last 3 years of tax returns …

Request for Transcript of Tax Return, IRS Form 4506-T (2 pgs, ink signature) – gives permission to pull tax returns for last three years, normal.

Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, IRS W-9 (6 pgs, eSign) – required as I own a business, HomeTipsforWomen.com. That's where I explain all aspects of home ownership including things like mortgage closing paperwork, LOL!

Information for Government Monitoring Purposes (3 pgs) – shaded, hard to read but demographic data for government analysis of homeowners.

Covid-19 Attestation (1 pg, eSign) – to confirm my income has changed from when I submitted application.

Acknowledgement of Receipt of Appraisal Report (1 pg, eSign) – received report, sent in rebuttal as you can't use 2-story houses for 1-story appraisal but this guy was lazy and couldn't be bothered finding viable comps. More to follow …

Specific Closing Instructions (4 pgs, ink signature) – used by lender to communicate requirements to the title company, including requirments for title insurance.

When you refinance your house within a few years of your original purchase, you should get a discount if using the same title company for title insurance. Your original owner's title insurance (optional but I'd recommend it) remains in place.

Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act Notice (1 pg, eSign) – seems absurd as it simply states that lenders can't discriminate against credit applicants. The only useful information is where to send a complaint, which would go to the FDIC consumer response center.

Occupancy Declaration (1 pg, eSign) – is where you “declare” that you're going to occupy the house as your primary residence, second residence or not occupy the property, e.g. rental property which usually has a higher interest rate.

Your lender has rules for your homeowner insurance …

Hazard Insurance Authorization and Requirements (2 pgs, eSign) – documents the requirements for your homeowner insurance. It feels strange because you have to identify your insurance company much earlier in the process. There is also communication from the lender to the insurance company to make sure they're named so that in the event of a claim, checks include their name along with your name.

Statement of Anti-Coercion Florida (1 pg, eSign) – basically informs you that the lender cannot require you to use a particular insurance agent/company. What's interesting is how production builders offer huge ($5,000 and more) financial incentives if home buyers use their lender AND their insurance company. Wonder if that is a violation of this Florida law?

Notice of Right to Cancel (2 copies of same page, eSign) – similar to other consumer laws, let's you cancel your mortgage without cost, if done within 3 days.

Amortization Schedule (8 pgs) – a waste of paper, showing how your mortgage payments shift from mostly interest, to more principal over the years. Payment 105 (roughly 9 years into the loan) is where my principal payment is more than interest.

Don't agree that lenders can share/sell my personal tax information …

Borrower Consent to the Use of Tax Return Information (1 pg, eSign) – is the one page I absolutely disagree with. I also refused to sign it earlier in the mortgage process so it was wrong to tuck it into the mortgage closing papers … again! Once this article is published, the next letter will be to the CEO of NBKC explaining what I object to. Once written, I'll add as an attachment or link to separate post.

Note: I was ready to start from the beginning to sign the package without this document. This wasn't an option so trusting my mortgage guy, I let it go through. If I were signing papers, I would sign and then put a diagonal slash through the page with a note that I didn't agree. This is the dilemma of eSigning, you can only sign … or stop the process in its entirety.

USA Patriot Act Customer Identification Verification (2 pgs) – lists the different types of identification allowed to prove who you are. As a notary came to my house, I gave her copies of my drivers license and social security card).

Compliance Agreement (2 pgs, ink signature) – gives permission for the lender to adjust documents if there are clerical errors.

Initial Escrow Account Disclosure Statement (2 pgs, eSign) – is a useful timeline showing how your escrow payments will accumulate and get used to pay your property taxes and homeowner insurance (called hazard insurance). Never assume that your escrow payment will always cover these costs. If there is a shortfall, your escrow payments will increase following the annual escrow analysis. If there's too much money in your escrow account, you will get a check and probably have your escrow payments lowered.

Limited Power of Attorney (1 pg, ink signature) – gives “my agent” permission to correct clerical/typographical errors. What's bad here is they never define who the agent is and there's no time limit to the agreement. My reason for questioning this is while I trust NBKC, I have had negative experiences with loan servicer's (Cenlar and Nationstar) that took over managing my prior NBKC loan.

Name Affidavit (1 pg online, 2pgs for wet documents) – simply funny that I have to confirm that my name spelled with all caps, with or without a middle initial are all one person, namely me.

Payment Letter to Borrower (2 pgs, eSign) – simply lists the components of your monthly mortgage payment and the date of the first payment. For me it's a bit odd as I know that my property taxes are too low, so I will adjust my payments to what I know they should be. We fixed this earlier in the application process but I decided it would be easier to correct after the closing. The figures were recalculated based on Nationstar's payoff document. This reflected higher insurance costs but not the real property taxes because new houses typically pay taxes on unimproved land the first year.

Servicing Disclosure Statement (1 pg) – tells me my loan servicing will be transferred. In this case I have negotiated ahead of time such that my loan servicer is one that works closely with NBKC so if I have a problem, I can go back to my mortgage guy who's been great. If not for this commitment, I would have gone with PenFed who doesn't transfer loan servicing outside!

Signature Affidavit and AKA Statement (2 pgs, ink signatures) – mentioned earlier, these simply confirm that my name might be written different ways but I'm one and the same person.

Congratulations on making it to the very end.
You deserve a nap or some other reward for wading through a lot of important but boring information.

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-closing-paperwork/feed08 Redecorating Tips for Changing Lifestyleshttp://hometipsforwomen.com/8-redecorating-lifestyles
http://hometipsforwomen.com/8-redecorating-lifestyles#respondThu, 21 May 2020 18:32:35 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49143Staying at home during shelter-in-place means you've now spent far more time at home than you could imagine. You've done more at home – working, home schooling, cooking versus eating out and hobbies to stay busy. By now you probably realize you could use your space better if you rearranged things. It could be time ... Read More

]]>Staying at home during shelter-in-place means you've now spent far more time at home than you could imagine. You've done more at home – working, home schooling, cooking versus eating out and hobbies to stay busy. By now you probably realize you could use your space better if you rearranged things. It could be time for some redecorating, where you change your space without spending a dime.

Take a tour of your closets. You'll likely see things long forgotten that still have memories worth keeping. The idea behind redecorating is to make your home support your lifestyle better, plus a fresh look to enjoy your home more.

So let's get started with the techniques you can use to rearrange what you already own.

1. Redecorating by Moving Furniture

Furniture might be the largest items in a room but they don't need to dominate the space. In the bedroom above, the beds were taking up almost the entire room. By rearranging them, it freed up a large amount of floor space for kids to play or guests to open up their suitcases. There's no one answer, so have fun moving things around until you find what you like.

2. Redecorating by Floating Your Furniture

We tend to think that most furniture should be placed against the walls. But who's the expert? If you pull your furniture away from the walls, what's called floating furniture, it can make the room feel larger. An added benefit is more flexibility in where your sofa faces, in case you'd like a new view. If you're not sure how to do this, visit furniture stores in person (or virtually online) for ideas that work.

3. Repurposing Furniture, Another Form of Redecorating

Our lives are constantly changing so what worked yesterday might not work today. Before you go shopping for new furniture, shop your home. You might be able to paint an old kitchen stool and turn it into a nightstand. If you've got a favorite table, find a new purpose for it. The cherry table above started life in the kitchen and moved to the home office. More recently it was moved into the quilt room to make facemasks for health care workers fighting the coronavirus.

4. Put Your Dining Room to Work

Too often the traditional dining room sits idle except for holidays and parties (read: The Unused Dining Room Dilemma). The dining table with it's huge surface is perfect for most home offices or maybe you need a classroom to keep two or three school age kids focused on their work. If you're not ready to make a permanent change, a rolling file cabinet or a few boxes with handles are all you need.

5. Multifunctional Furniture Can Serve … Multiple Needs!

Oops, I promised you could do all your redecorating with things you already own. You might already have a rolling cart, like a bar cart, ready to be repurposed. Maybe you remodeled your kitchen a few years ago and the old cabinets are in the garage. It's really easy to add rolling wheels (lots of choices on Amazon) to an existing cabinet, table or even plastic storage bins. Or maybe you're ready to splurge and buy something small and inexpensive. So have fun shopping for your new rolling storage cart!

PS Be sure to consider where you'll keep the cart when not being used. Take measurements and use these when picking out your new cart.

6. Redecorating with Artwork

It's relatively easy to move your artwork from room to room. Some pieces will only fit in one or 2 places like the piece on the left. Other pieces of art can go almost anywhere and you might even split groups up. This is also the time when you can dig out lost pieces that have been buried in a closet and maybe it's time to frame and hang some of your kids artwork.

7. Accessories Can Change a Room's Personality

Pillows are great because you can change colors inexpensively. Even better, when not in use they're easy to tuck into a closet until your next redecorating project. Plants are another great decorating tool indoors as well as outside. Go for real plants if you're good at remembering to water them (read: Indoor Plants That Keep You Healthy at Home). Alternatively, Home Goods has some great deals on fake plants like those shown above.

8. Use Lighting to Brighten Rooms

Good lighting in a room can make a huge difference. You can change fixtures or more easily, swap table and floor lamps. Several different types of lighting combined will give you the best ambience (read: How Many Types of Lighting are There?). Have fun with light fixtures that suit your personality. They're easy to swap out and take with you when you move.

Have fun redecorating to give your home a fresh look and share photos so we can enjoy too.

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/8-redecorating-lifestyles/feed0Can’t Pay Your Mortgage? Forbearance Might Helphttp://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-forbearance
http://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-forbearance#respondWed, 20 May 2020 02:08:09 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49140What happens when you can't pay your mortgage? If you have a federally backed mortgages, a new federal law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, gives you the right to request a forbearance for up to 180 days (plus an extension for up to another 180 days). If you don’t have a ... Read More

]]>What happens when you can't pay your mortgage? If you have a federally backed mortgages, a new federal law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, gives you the right to request a forbearance for up to 180 days (plus an extension for up to another 180 days). If you don’t have a federally backed mortgage, there may be relief options through your mortgage loan servicer or from your state.

What is Mortgage Forbearance?

Forbearance is when your mortgage servicer or lender allows you to temporarily pause paying your mortgage or make a lower payment. Forbearance only delays payments. You still have to pay the money that was deferred plus interest on deferred payments because in effect, this is a new loan.

The purpose of forbearance is to help you deal with a hardship. The current coronavirus shutdown of the economy is a good example. Other reasons for requesting forbearance is if your home was damaged in a flood, you have an illness/injury increasing your healthcare costs or you lost your job. Forbearance is typically granted to borrowers with temporary or short-term financial difficulty. If there are more serious problems, forbearance is usually not a solution.

It's also important to understand that even if your lender agrees to delayed payments, the lender must report your mortgage status which will reflect the delinquency and past due payments.

Here's a video that explains how the Coronavirus CARES Act is making forbearance available to homeowners.

Mortgage Forbearance Examples

There are no industry standards for how forbearance is implemented. Each lender has their own forbearance products which will differ based on the type of loan you have, the owner or investor requirements in your mortgage and the loan servicer.

The most important aspect of any forbearance product is the repayment plan. Here are the repayment options for government backed loans which represent more than 50% of all mortgages in the US. They include loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and those insured by HUD, the VA, or the USDA. Here's where you can find out if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (they have my mortgage).

Forbearance can be for 3, 6 or twelve months. It can be for your entire mortgage payment or partial. What you need to focus on are the repayment options which will affect your cash flow once you've gotten past your current financial difficulties.

Lump sum payment -- means you would pay the entire amount back in one lump sum. This is an option and fortunately not mandatory, as few homeowners can come up with the cash as they stabilize their financial situation.

Short-term repayment plan -- would allow you to repay your forbearance over six or twelve months. For example, if you postpone $1,000 mortgage payments for six months, you would need to repay an extra $500/mo over the following year.

Extended loan modification -- simply takes the amount you owe and tacks it onto the back of your loan. If you opted for a full year mortgage forbearance, your loan would be modified to reflect one additional year (possibly longer to incorporate the interest on the unpaid amount).

Flex modification -- is for homeowners who can't afford payments at their current interest rate and/or term (length of mortgage). In this case, the lender will work with you to modify the loan so that it's affordable … but tread carefully so you don't create a new/different problem.

Cap and extend -- covers borrowers who can't pay their property taxes and homeowners insurance (paid into an escrow account). The lender will pay these bills during forbearance and add the amount to the principal balance, increasing your payments once you come out of forbearance.

How Do You Get a Forbearance?

You need to contact your loan servicer to request forbearance. There should be no additional fees, penalties or additional interest (beyond scheduled amounts) added to your account. You do not need to submit additional documentation to qualify other than your claim to have a pandemic-related financial hardship.

To avoid confusion, it helps to understand the difference between your mortgage lender, your loan servicer and your real lender.

Mortgage lender -- is the financial institution that loaned you the money. They usually bundle and sell your mortgage within a month to free up funds to make more loans.

Mortgage servicer -- is the company that sends you your mortgage statements. They handle the day-to-day tasks for managing your loan, including working with you on forbearance.

Secondary lenders -- buy loans from the mortgage lenders who originate our mortgages. More than 50% of all mortgages are held by government lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They also bundle loans and sell them on the bond market.

Always remember that lenders may opt to foreclose. Forbearance is a vehicle for lenders and borrowers to agree on a delay if the borrower can catch up to their payment schedule by a certain time. This period and the payment plan depend on the details of the agreement that is accepted by both parties.

For help in exploring options, you can find a housing counselor through CFPB's “Find a Counselor” tool or call the HOPE™ Hotline, open 7x24 at (888) 995-HOPE (4673).

]]>http://hometipsforwomen.com/mortgage-forbearance/feed0What is a Builder Design Center?http://hometipsforwomen.com/builder-design-center
http://hometipsforwomen.com/builder-design-center#respondSun, 17 May 2020 17:35:00 +0000http://hometipsforwomen.com/?p=49104Builders are experts in building houses and developing communities. They don't have as much expertise in selecting cabinet styles and colors, flooring and more. That's why many builders have a design center staffed with interior decorators to help home buyers select options to customize their houses to fit their personality and budget. Builder design centers ... Read More

]]>Builders are experts in building houses and developing communities. They don't have as much expertise in selecting cabinet styles and colors, flooring and more. That's why many builders have a design center staffed with interior decorators to help home buyers select options to customize their houses to fit their personality and budget.

Builder design centers are a great resource for home buyers. If you're undecided about a new versus existing home, the design center can help you compare options you can bake into your mortgage compared to the time and cost to renovate an existing home.

A good design center can help you estimate the cost of upgrade options so you know the real cost of the house you want to buy. That's an important factor in selecting your builder because some are transparent about costs and others hide the true cost of their homes (read: Where is My Dining Room Chandelier).

What is a Builder Design Center?

You've picked your builder, the community where your new house will be, the model and building lot you want plus structural changes that affect the building permit. Those are important decisions but they're just the beginning of the building process. There are still hundreds of decisions to make before you move into your house.

Even more challenging, you might not know what to factor into most decisions. For example, when I recently replaced my toilets I didn't have time to research and shop for them. Fortunately I knew what was important. I told my plumber I wanted comfort height toilets that were easy to flush (why I hated the toilets installed by the builder) and water efficient (learn how Saving Water at Home Makes WaterSense). Yes, I also gave him a target price.

The design center is where you select upgrades to replace the fixtures included in the basic model. You'll have an interior decorator to guide you and many of the options will be available for you to view and touch. The most common design center options include:

Different Builders, Different Design Centers

Maybe you never heard about builder design centers before searching for a new house. What's important to understand is that builders use design centers very differently. You might be disappointed if you expect one thing and experience something totally different. That's what happened to me when I bought a house from Richmond American Homes. Familiar with Fulton Home's design center (13,000 sq ft), Richmond's home gallery in Orlando (roughly 1,00 sq ft) felt absurd … prompting this article.

Defined color packages – are offered by builders like Lennar (shown above). Their “Everything Included” approach simplifies the home buying process. The biggest benefits are fewer decisions and buyers understand the total cost up front versus sticker shock after visiting the design center.

Design center upgrades – are selected by buyers at the builder's design center. Buyers should prioritize options based on how easy or difficult it is to replace items at a later date. Adding more living space is the most important while flooring and lighting are replaced all the time. These design centers should be around 2,500 sq ft to provide a reasonable set of options.

Richmond American Home's design center was only 1,000 sq ft so they offered very few options, like 4 interior door choices. Recognizing that their pricing included 200 to 300% profit, I opted to gut my house and upgrade to products they didn't offer for the same/lower cost.

Semi-custom homes – are offered by builders committed to enabling home buyers to personalize their entire house. These builders offer many more options like kitchen cabinet organizing gadgets, closet storage choices and more. The Toll Brothers are a national semi-custom home builder and Fulton Homes outside Phoenix, Arizona is an example of an outstanding regional builder.

Structural changes to your home's floor plan are decided before you visit the design center …

Where the Design Center Fits in the Buying/Building Process

The buying process used by most production home builders is rather odd. You pick your lot, house style and features that need to be incorporated into the building permit. For example, my house included the optional 3-car garage, a study (my quilt room) instead of the 4th bedroom plus a “club room” which I've turned into my home office (see below).

What's strange is you put down a deposit and sign a contract before you know the price of your house. The typical buyer will spend 10 to 15% more for the upgrades they select during their visit to the builder's design center.

Here's valuable information to help you guesstimate the likely cost of your home before you sign that contract.

PS One thing I learned was Toll Brothers designates April for a yearly cleanup of their design centers. Outdated products are dropped to make way for new models at this time and remain in place for a full year.

From kitchen & bathroom vignettes, to lighting & flooring …

Preparing for Your Visit to the Design Center

Some builders will give you a brochure or video to watch before you get to their design center. The best preparation I've found is Fulton Home's website. They not only help you compare communities and floor plans, which most builders do. They enable you to browse hundreds of products they offer as builder upgrades and they show you what the standard product is if you don't pick something else. This transparency is a welcome resource for home buyers unfamiliar with all the products and decisions they'll be faced with at the design center.

So how do you prepare for your visit to the design center? These steps will help you identify and prioritize the options you should focus on during your visit to the design center.

Determine your budget – You know how much you've already spent for your house plus structural changes and the lot where it will be located. While you can roll the cost of upgrades into your mortgage, that only works if you qualify for the higher amount you'll need to finance.

Review your lifestyle – Think about where you spend most of your time today and how that might change if your family grows in size. Consider what options will help you save time if that's important to you (it's my top priority). If your dream is to work at home, make sure you know where that will happen and add wiring for the lighting and technology you'll need to use.

Pick a color pallet – Don't worry about accent colors yet. You need to decide if you want to use warm (beige) colors of cool, gray colors. This will affect your choice of cabinets, countertops, flooring and more.

Research pricing for your top 10 options – Visit a flooring store and see what your favorite flooring costs (materials and labor costs per square feet). Do the same for cabinets (cost per linear feet) and countertops (cost per square feet) at a local kitchen and bath showroom or Home Depot. This will prepare you to negotiate lower prices at the design center if they're prices are higher than retail (learn how I did this in Replacing Cheap Kitchen Cabinets).

Prioritize your wish list – As you dream you'll put lots of options on your list. Most home buyers don't have an unlimited budget so you'll have to prioritize. Separate needs from wants, and then consider options that you could easily upgrade in a few years … like flooring and light fixtures.

If your builder doesn't provide an guidance or checklists before your design center visit, use the checklists on the Fulton Homes website. While learning the products that are standard with your house won't apply, you'll learn how the dining room chandelier should be coordinated with light fixtures in the entryway and stairs.

Fulton makes it easy for home buyers to see their options for 20 types of products …

For each of the categories, click through and review the options listed. Add them to your list if they're important to you. If you're not sure the list is comprehensive enough, search for better checklists like 44 Homeowner Electrical Checklist Tips.

Lighting fixtures organized making decisions easy …

PS Your design center experience is a good predictor of how your end-to-end building experience will go. While my experience working with Richmond American Homes was unacceptable, it's given me the knowledge to help home buyers find builders who deliver a better customer experience.

]]>A dining room chandelier provides light and ambiance for this often forgotten room (read: The Unused Dining Room Dilemma). Like a beautiful piece of jewelry, dining room chandeliers often act as the room's focal point. With an open floor plan, your dining room needs something to define its' space. Such was the dilemma in my house where the great room is 28 by 30 feet.

You really multiple ways in which you can define individual rooms within a great room. Most of your options are in the ceiling or floor. Strangely some homeowners will add a room divider where a traditional wall would have been but not in my house. The most common choices are:

Dining room chandelier that defines the space as … a dining room! This is much cheaper than putting in a tray ceiling or decorative ceiling trim.

Dining rooms can also be defined by an area rug that serves a double purpose, by also protecting the floor.

This article was prompted by miscommunication with my builder, Richmond American Homes. While I was able to select (and pay for) pendant lights over the kitchen island, no mention was made of a dining room chandelier. As I thought about the more than $2,000 I agreed to pay to complete the wiring in my new home, I sent an email asking about wiring for the dining room chandelier.

The builder's home gallery representative told me a dining room chandelier was standard but no wiring was installed. Now the builder's warranty department doesn't want to accept responsibility for correcting the mistake. That's the short explanation … keep reading to learn more about product builders like Richmond American.

My house needs a dining room chandelier. The builder says it's not their problem?

Builder model homes all showcase dining room chandeliers …

Dining Room Chandelier: Standard or Upgrade?

After selecting my house plan with modifications like a 3-car garage and putting down a deposit, I was invited to visit Richmond American Home's design center in Orlando. The sales people try to play up all the exciting upgrades available but … the day was more of a disaster.

The gallery visit was a series of discussions, with no documentation or menu to explain the flow of our dialog. There were many (too many) surprises that will take multiple articles to share. For example, the cost to upgrade cabinets to white wood was marked up roughly 200% giving the builder a nice profit. I opted to install my own cabinets after closing (read: Replacing Cheap Kitchen Cabinets).

This article focuses on what I had to spend to finish wiring my house. After paying more than $2,000 for additional wiring, I still didn't get a dining room chandelier. Most of this wiring should have been covered in the base house price. After this experience, I finally understand and believe Lennar's “Everything Included” makes a lot more sense, so buyers don't have to stumble into hidden surprises.

My first dining room chandelier got flooded out … waiting for wiring!

Electrical Wiring is Cheaper When Walls are Open

If you're building a house or remodeling, this is the perfect time to add the electrical wiring and plumbing you want. You'll cut your costs in half when the walls are open because it's much easier and faster for electricians and plumbers to run wires and pipes through the walls.

40 years ago I had to pay for ceiling lights in all the bedrooms. This was the last thing I expected to pay for with a new build house in 2019. It's really false advertising where the builder advertises a lower home cost until you add in things like bedroom lights (or fans), garage coach lights and yikes, I didn't get wiring for my dining room chandelier!

Here's what I had to pay for extra wiring in my home built by Richmond American Homes. When the analysis is done, it's not clear that the house was any cheaper than Lennar's “Everything Included” that was less than a mile away.

Electrical Upgrades

Richmond
Upgrade Costs

Lennar
Everything Included

Ceiling fan (or light) prewire & 2 switches – front bedroom

Wiring cost $200

Wiring included

Ceiling fan (or light) prewire & 2 switches – side bedroom

Wiring cost $200

Wiring included

Ceiling fan (or light) prewire & 2 switches – study

Wiring cost $200

Wiring included

Pendant lights (3) over kitchen island

Wiring cost $264

Wiring for 2 included

Dining room chandelier prewire & switch

MISSING!!!

Wiring included

Rocker light switches

$214

Included

Dedicated 110v outlet in garage for freezer

$209

Unknown

Outdoor patio outlets for future landscaping (2)

2 outlets cost $456

Single outlet

Additional closet outlet for modem, router, etc.

1 outlet cost $71

Wiring plus Wifi router

Prewire & 1 switch for garage coach lights (3)

Wiring cost $359

Two lights included

Prewire for garage door openers (3)

Wiring included

Openers & remotes

Prewire Internet data Cat5 (2 Internet; 3 cable included)

Wiring cost $180

Included

Total cost of electrical upgrades

$2,353

Guess which dining room chandelier I picked …

No Electrical Checklist, No Discussion & No Dining Room Chandelier!

You might assume the builder would provide a checklist of electrical options so you could prioritize upgrades that are most important to you. Here's an example of an electrical checklist that can help a home buyer identify what's most important, from light fixtures to outlets and switches, inside and outside your home. Many should cost nothing like lowering switches by 6 inches for small kids, moving switches to make them easier to reach. If you put your furniture plan together, you can ask for outlets to be moved so they're not stuck behind furniture.

With no checklist and no discussion at the home gallery, it took me a week or so to question whether there would be wiring for my dining room chandelier. With my corporate background I knew it was important to confirm this in writing, so I sent an email in October asking:

Dining chandelier question – We never discussed pre-wire for chandelier over dining room table. Can you confirm that's standard?

Answer from Richmond's design gallery representative – “There is a standard light fixture over where a dining room table would be.”

While I closed in May (7 months after email exchange above), I didn't realize there was no wiring for the dining room chandelier until August. I reported this to the warranty manager, in an email titled “Restarting Punchlist“. Three months had elapsed since the closing and only 3 contractors had been out to the house for a punchlist with 70 items.

Another three months went by as I was busy dealing with a flooded house. The new warranty supervisor called and asked for a walkthrough (the 5th walkthrough) which I agreed to while dealing with mold issues. I followed up this meeting with the home gallery commitment to wiring for the dining room chandelier. He ignored this email for five months until I got this response …

“I double checked our plans and there is no centered chandelier light fixture in the dining room. I copied a snip from the plans we used on your home. From our phone call on Tuesday you stated you were going to send a bill for the light fixture I am assuming you added there. We will not be responsible for that bill as the light was not on the original set of prints nor listed as an option.”

Electrical plans for my house, from Richmond American Homes …

Responsibility for the Electrical Plan

Let me explain what the diagram above is all about. It was first given to me after the home gallery meeting and two days before my construction kickoff meeting. There were 3 pages of electrical plans, resized to fit on 8.5 x 14 inches which made them almost unreadable. With no experience reading plans like this, I was supposed to sign-off on them but why?

Was I responsible for confirming my upgrades were properly documented in the builder's construction plans?

Was I signing off on these and similar plan to protect Richmond from construction mistakes?

Most home buyers probably sign the builder's paperwork without reading it. I always read (ask questions and read again) before I sign. For example, the master bathroom specs had a list of tile names but no photos to show they were the tiles I'd selected. It took several emails over a month to get the photos and by then, I simply didn't sign off on any of the plans.

The new building superintendent now says 8 months after reporting the problem, that the dining room light isn't in the plans so they don't have to pay for the ceiling outlet and switch. My response is a Richmond American Homes gallery employee in an email, made a commitment and I expect it to be honored!